Baseball Season
by Calcifer
Summary: Everyone loves a good baseball game, and the kids at Domino High are no exception! Joey, Tristan, and Yugi make the team! But with twisted ankles, the shortest shortstop ever, and Kaiba as an umpire this is shaping up to be one amazing baseball season!
1. The Tryouts

HI this is Calcifer! Please review! I like reviews! BUT UNKIND REVIEWS THAT ARE NOT HELPFUL ARE NOT NICE! God, I sound like a Kindergarten teacher...YIKES! Okay, yeah this is starring my one true love...  
  
Aragorn: ME!  
  
Fernand Mondego: No, no. She means me.  
  
Calcifer: Nice try you guys! But, This is the YU-GI-OH! section...  
  
Both: Dang. So it'll star...  
  
Calcifer: JOEY!  
  
Joey: And she doesn't own Yu-Gi-OH!  
  
Calcifer: You just HAD to say that didn't you?! *sniff sniff*  
  
****************************************************************  
  
Joey Wheeler walked down the hallway during lunch. He was talking to Tristan and Yugi about Duel Monsters when a harsh voice shouted,  
  
"WHEELER!" Joey turned around to see a tall beefy man running after them.  
  
"Uh oh. Joey did you blow something up in Chem. again?" Tristan asked.  
  
"No, that is Coach Manton. He was my coach in middle and grade school. I heard he started working here but I hadn't seen him yet. Hey, Coach!" he said to the man who drew up to them huffing and puffing.  
  
"Wheeler! *pant pant* Baseball!...NOW!" the man said angrily  
  
"Shoot! Was that today?!" Joey said looking embarrassed.  
  
"Ho yeah! Get your tail on the field, kid!" Joey ran off at full speed toward the boys' locker room.  
  
"Where is he going Coach Manton?" Yugi asked.  
  
"Huh?" The coach asked and looked around to see who was talking to him. He looked very confused until he looked down and saw Yugi around thigh level. "Oh! He was going to baseball tryouts." Tristan gasped.  
  
"THOSE are TODAY?!" He ran off after Joey five minutes later they ran past Yugi in Gym clothes. Yugi ran after them.  
  
"Hey guys wait up! I want to be on the team too!" But they were too far ahead to hear him.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
"So, Joey. You think I have a chance of making pitcher this year?" Tristan asked. Joey looked at him, seizing him up.  
  
"Um, no."  
  
"Hey, Wheeler you're up!" the coach called Joey stepped out of the line of boys and up to bat. He picked up the baseball bat and swung it experimentally. "Knock it outta the park, boy!" The coach said as Joey squared himself up with the plate. The pitcher sent in a fastball and Joey hit it. It went past all the outfielders and out of the school field area.  
  
"HOMER!!!!" Joey shouted, and waltzed around the bases triumphantly. Yugi finally caught up and stood next to Tristan in line.  
  
"Hey, Tristan! You think I can make the team?" Tristan looked Yugi over.  
  
"Um, no." he said as Joey walked towards them.  
  
"Wheeler!" yelled the coach as he ran up and hugged Joey. "You didn't lose your form! Thank you!"  
  
'Heeeeeeeyyyy anytime, Coach!" Joey said feeling very full of himself. Tristan gulped as his name was called. He HAD been practicing.....  
  
"Alright, Taylor. Lets see you pitch." The coach said sounding very exasperated.  
  
"Okay." Tristan pitched one slow pitch to warm up and then did five really great fastballs in a row. The coach looked astonished at how good he was.  
  
"Yeah Tristan!" Joey and Yugi shouted. Next came Yugi. Tristan and Joey looked sad that their best friend was going to fail, but cheered him on anyway. The assistant coach who was pitching looked startled at how short Yugi was. HE HAD NO STRIKE ZONE! He pitched a slow one and it went over Yugi's head.  
  
"Ball one!" the coach shouted. The pitcher threw three more pitches each of which were counted as balls. Yugi happily jogged over to first base, he had been walked.  
  
The coach ran over to him. "KID! You are GREAT! Hah! You have no strike zone! This is brilliant!" Yugi blushed and looked very pleased.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
The next week Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Teá, Serenity, and Bakura went to go see who had made the team. Joey looked at the roster. "Well, looky here! Guess who made third base. Surprise, surprise!" He said looking proudly at his name on the roster. Tristan shoved him aside.  
  
"MOVE IT! I can't see past your inflated head." Joey glared at him and moved aside.  
  
"HEY! I made the team!" Tristan shouted. "Woohoo!" Yugi pushed his way in.  
  
"What does 'shortstop' mean?" he asked.  
  
"It is the position between second and third base. Why?" Joey asked.  
  
"Um it is my position, according to the roster." Yugi said sounding astounded.  
  
"Well you certainly have the 'short' in shortstop." A sarcastic voice said behind them.  
  
"Kaiba!" They all said, and turned around to see him carrying his laptop.  
  
"So, Taylor finally made the team, eh? That seems so.unlikely." He said laughing and walked away.  
  
"As usual Kaiba manages to take the fun out of life." Joey said sounding bored.  
  
"Okay guys! Let's get to practice!" Yugi, Tristan, and Joey ran off.  
  
After practice they all felt confident except for Yugi, who had not known what a 'pickle' or a 'sacrifice' or any of the other baseball terms were. "Yami?" he said to his alter ego inside his head.  
  
"Yes, Yugi?" his Yami responded.  
  
"Um, what is a sacrifice?"  
  
"It is when you kill someone to please the Gods."  
  
"Oh. Right. Okay! Thanks!" he ran off to tell Joey about his new term.  
  
"Hey, Joey!" He called out to him as he ran into the lunch room. Joey was eating pizza and a soda.  
  
"Yeah? Wassup, man?"  
  
"You know baseball?"  
  
"Yeah...."  
  
"Should we use knives or daggers?"  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"For a sacrifice. Knives or daggers?"  
  
"Okay....yeah......." Joey said looking both confused and horrified. 


	2. Rain, and Sleep

Yes this is Calcifer again! HI!! This is the next chapter. Wow. Okay……yeah I Don't own Yu-Gi-OH! [Sadly]

The next day Yugi and Joey showed up in class two seconds before the bell rang. They both had deep shadows under their eyes and were swaying back and forth in their seats all through class. Finally just as the teacher began talking about Einstein's theory of relativity, Joey fell asleep on his desk and began snoring. The teacher went over to his desk and whapped the wood loudly with a ruler but Joey stayed fast asleep. Finally the teacher dumped her water bottle over Joey's head. He woke up with a start and yelled as he saw what had happened to his hair: it had lost its shape and was a floppy mass all over his face. He ran out of the room screaming for hair gel and a brush while the entire class laughed, except for Yugi who has just fallen asleep on his desk too. Just then the bell rang and they all went to break. 

          As they were lounging on benches Serenity saw a tall boy with a green jacket pulled over his head walking towards them. 

"Hey guys." The boy inside the jacket said. Tristan, Bakura and Teá began laughing. Serenity didn't know what was so funny as she was not in their physics class. 

"Joey? Is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah." 

"Hey why were you so tired today?" Tristan asked while still laughing. 

"I spent the entire night teaching Yugi everything a person could know about baseball."

"EVERYTHING?!" Tristan said sounding amazed. 

"Yeah." Yugi said, he also was very tired and looked like he was about to fall over onto the Latin book he was studying from. 

"Wow." Serenity said. "That is pretty cool." 

"Yeah I guess…….."Yugi said.

"We have our first game this Friday!" Tristan added. "Are you guys coming?" He asked Serenity, Teá and Bakura.

"Yeah! I love baseball." Serenity said, and the others made sounds of agreement.

"Cool! You can all see my stardom!" Joey said smugly.

"Hey, Joey what was the Coach talking about when he said something about you not losing your form?" Yugi asked, remembering the tryout day. 

"Oh, in grade and middle school I was the star of the team. I promised him I would be on the team this year too."

"Oh, cool!" Yugi said. "That is really great for you, Joey!"

"Thanks Yug'!" Joey said, grinning. "Well we should get practice I guess." 

"Yeah" Tristan and Yugi said and they left with him.

"I wish there was a girl's baseball team." Serenity said wistfully.

"Oh, you like to play?" Bakura asked.

"Yeah, I play with Joey all the time."

On the way there Yugi began talking to Yami inside his head.

"Yami, I stink at running."

"Why are you telling me this?" 

"Well I could bat and then you could run! You are taller and can therefore take bigger steps."

"Yeah……but-"

"Thanks, Yami! You're a great friend!"

"Uh yeah…..you……are…..too," he said, and to himself, "I HATE organized sports."

*****************************************************************

The day of the game was dark and cloudy. It looked like it was going to rain any minute. Joey was searching his room before school, looking for his good luck plastic donut- he had never played a game without it; Yugi was trying to figure out how a baseball hat would fit over his hair; and Tristan was trying to figure out which way would impress Serenity more- his hat backwards or forwards. 

          When the boys got to school, a few raindrops fell on their noses. Joey swore. 

"If this keeps up, the game will be really hard." he said, and Tristan and Yugi nodded in agreement.

The rain was pretty heavy during the game. Tristan threw great pitches that were hard to hit and Joey did great base work. Yugi [well technically Yami] actually caught a pop fly and was very pleased. The score was close, and it was the final inning. The game was getting tense. The Domino team had to score twice or else they would lose. Tristan got on base and so did another boy. Joey was about to go up to bat; he had hit one homerun that game and had gone around the bases twice. If he could hit a homer now the game would be in the bag. He picked up a bat and did a practice swing. He felt great; they were going to win for sure. He walked up the stairs of the dugout and onto the soggy ground. Suddenly he slipped on a really wet patch and fell on his ankle. He yelled out, but the crowd was so loud no one could really hear him. Except for one girl sitting in the front row. 


	3. Will We Win? dum dum dum

Hello, and YES it IS CALCIFER! Time for my theme song! 

Aragorn: WHAT theme song?

Calcifer: The one YOU were supposed to be writing!

Aragorn: I thought that was Fernand…

Fernand Mondego: Don' look at me! I'm a count not a saint!

Calcifer: That is Edmond's line!

Fernand: Whatever.

Joey: Am I still the star?

Calcifer: Mhm

Aragorn: She doesn't own Yu-Gi-OH!

Fernand: Yeah, that is a good thing…..

Calcifer: YES! Since I would change it to: Joey-OH!

Aragorn: Yes it is all about HIM isn't it!

Calcifer: Yes.

"Wheeler! You're UP!" the coach called out. A boy in uniform ran up to him, wearing a batting helmet that shadowed his face.

"Yeah, Coach?" he said in a voice that seemed weirder than Joey's. The coach looked at him. 

"You gettin' shorter, Joey?" He asked.

"No sir." the boy answered.

"Yeah, must be seeing things." the coach said, rubbing his eyes. "Well, get out there, Wheeler, and win it for us!"

"Right away, sir!" The boy called as he ran up to the plate. 

"I could swear he looks shorter…" the coach said to himself. The boy stood at home plate grasping the bat. The opposing team's pitcher threw a pitch that went over Joey's head. 

"Ball One!" the umpire shouted. On the next pitch the boy swung really hard and it went soaring out over left field. The boy ran as fast as could to first base, then to second, following Tristan and the other boy who both made it home. The ball was thrown to the pitcher, who threw it home just a second after the boy skidded onto the base. He was safe. The game was won!

Joey Wheeler grinned as he watched the team jump up and down ecstatically. They had won! YEAH! He hobbled over to the coach on his crutch.

"Wheeler! Nice job-" the coach said, and then gasped. "Wheeler! You were over there the whole time!?" He yelled, pointing at the dugout.

"Yeah, sprained my ankle."

"But then how-who-what?!" He said gesturing at the boy who had responded to Joey's name and has won the game for them. The boy, still wearing his helmet jogged over. He pulled it off and tons of long red hair came spilling out. 

"Nice job, Serenity!" Joey yelled and hugged her. 

"WHAT?! A GIRL?!" The coach yelled, looking flabbergasted. 

"Coach, I want you to meet my little sister." Joey said proudly. The coach was still muttering 'how-who-what?!'. Finally he regained his speech.

"WHEELER! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE INJURED!? WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN SOMEONE ELSE TO HIT!" he yelled into Joey's face.

"Maintain your cool, Coach! I knew Serenity could do it! She was the only one who saw me fall, plus I didn't trust anyone else to make the hit that was needed."

"WHEELER! I AM THE COACH! I SAY WHAT GOES! NOT YOU!"

"We won." Joey pointed out, still with his arm around Serenity, who was beaming at her victory. 

"We……..won……" the coach repeated to himself, and then began laughing. "WE WON!!!!" He continued laughing and then looked at Serenity. "Young lady, I owe you an apology! You are a great ball player! Congratulations!" He patted her on the shoulder so hard she nearly fell over. "Welcome to the team!"

"What?!" she cried.

"Well, since you just saved the team, I think you deserve a reward." he said. "So? How about it?" he asked. Serenity beamed and said 'yes' about fifty times. The coach walked off laughing. 

Serenity gave Joey back his spare uniform and they all went over to Yugi's house for a celebration. Teá and Bakura were congratulating all of them and Joey bandaged up his ankle. They were all talking animatedly about the game.

Marik walked around the town of Domino, thinking about the awful sport of baseball. He had played it in Egypt as a kid and had been hit on the head with a ball. Which really explains a lot, I must point out. As he was walking along he saw Yami Bakura.

"Marik. Sorry I haven't killed Yami yet. How is your plan to rule the world going?"

"I am working on a new plan, Yami Bakura."   
"Really? I thought your old one was pretty good…"

"Well this one will achieve a different goal…"

"Which is…?"

"TO DESTROY THE SPORT OF BASEBALL FOREVER!"

"Okay………" Yami Bakura said and then dragged Marik off to see a shrink.


	4. Various Incidents at the Ice Cream Parlo...

Hello and yes it is the one and only Calcifer. Time to check my reviews. Aragorn? Bring me my reviews, please. 

Aragorn: Uh you tell her, Fernand.

Fernand: My dear man YOU are the hero…..I don't have a death wish.

Aragorn: But you have a sword.

Fernand: Well so do YOU and yours has a NAME.

Aragorn: Okay. You don't have any reviews.

Calcifer: No reviews? *Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!*

Fernand: Sorry.

Calcifer: There goes my ego! *Boo hooo hooooooo* 

Aragorn: Well there is always US! You could write a fic about ME!

Calcifer: I wan' my Joey!

Fernand: What about US?!

Calcifer: I neeeeeeeeeed my bishounen!

Fernand: This isn't working. 

Aragorn: Uh…..can we leave now?

Calcifer: Fine! You can leave me too!

Fernand: Have some sugar, Calcifer. 

Calcifer: SUGAR!

Aragorn: And she doesn't own Yu-Gi-OH!

Fernand: Yeah, thank the Lord.

"I am thinking of being a cheerleader." Teá said as they all sat around in an ice cream parlor after school. Tristan had just taken a huge gulp of his soda and he began laughing, and it came out his nose. Causing Joey to begin laughing even harder and choke on his ice cream. Serenity patted him hard on the back. Teá glared at all of them. 

"I'm serious!" she yelled. "This way I can help the team just like you guys." Joey and Tristan snorted and began laughing so hard they fell off their chairs. 

"You guys! Teá needs to follow her dreams!" Yugi protested.

"I *gasp* thought *laugh* her dream was to be a…a…dancer." Joey managed to say in between laughs. "Trust me, Teá, you really don't have what it takes." 

"Yes I do! Why can Serenity help the team and I can't?" 

"Well, for starters the cheerleading tryouts were yesterday…." Tristan said, still laughing.

"Yeah. You missed 'em!" Joey said while trying to regain control of his laughter, and ending up hiccupping instead. 

"WHAT?!" Teá yelled. "They're OVER?!"

"Yeah, some people might argue that cheerleaders are ditzes [not true all you cheerleaders out there, don't worry I don't really feel this way!], but at least they can remember to go to the tryouts!" Tristan said.

"You guys! You need to be nice to Teá!" Yugi protested.

"Sorry, but HER a CHEERLEADER?!" 

"It does seem rather unlikely." Bakura said looking very nervous. Teá glared at him, and he shrank away. 

"I haven't much of Kaiba lately." Yugi said, trying to change the subject. "Was he at the game yesterday?" 

"I thought I saw him but I really am not sure." Teá said, the argument forgotten. 

"I think it is great, he always is buggin' me!" Joey said while trying to eat his ice cream without choking, he was still laughing at Teá. 

"Yeah!" Tristan seconded. 

"He isn't THAT bad." Yugi pointed out.

"Whatever you say Yug'." Joey said. 

"Talking about me?" A voice said from behind Joey. Joey leaped into the air and fell off his chair. He looked up from the ground at Seto Kaiba who was standing over him.

"Hi Kaiba!" Yugi said to him. Kaiba merely looked at him and walked away. 

"Well we have another game tomorrow." Joey said.

"It'll be my first game on the team!" Serenity said sounding very excited.

"You guys sure have a lot of games." Bakura pointed out.

"Yeah baseball season is rather intense." Tristan said.

The game went very well: the usual homers by Joey, great pitches by Tristan, and Yugi getting walked every time he came up to bat. Joey hit a ball that went way out over center field. He ran around the bases and just slid onto home plate as the ball was thrown there.

"OUT!" The umpire shouted.

"WHAT?!" Joey yelled. "I'M SAFE! YOU BIASED, NO GOOD, DIRTY ROTTEN….." he continued on this vein inserting swear words here and there.

"You are OUT, Wheeler." The umpire said again. Joey gasped.

Hey! Sorry this chapter was rather short. To all Teá fans and cheerleaders: NO OFFENSE MEANT! Okay? Good. But please, repair my broken up ego by giving me some reviews! Remember Aragorn and Fernand have swords…..SO FLAMERS BEWARE!


	5. Bad Day At The Ballpark

Okay! Prepare to be afraid! I am updating this story! *Ominous music sounds* I had given up on it but you reviewers are the most wonderful people in the world! Thank you sososo much! I was all depressed because this was my very first fic, and no one had read it but now you all have! T__T Life is so beautiful! 

DOMO ARIGATO!

*************************************************************

The umpire pulled off his mask and glared triumphantly at Joey. "Now, Wheeler. Go back to the dugout like a good little puppy dog." 

          "K-K-K-KAIBA?!" Joey yelled at the top of his lungs. "What the…?! Why are you here?!" 

          "Wheeler. I said 'out'." Kaiba said reveling in the moment. Joey gazed at him with horror.

          "Not possible. You're BIASED! GET SOME GLASSES! I WAS IN BY A MILE! YOU HEAR ME? A MILE!" He kept yelling at Kaiba until Kaiba said, still grinning. 

          "Tsk tsk, Wheeler. You should learn to keep a civil tongue in your head. I am now evicting you from the game." Joey blanched, almost hit Kaiba, realized that doing that could get him taken out all season, and went forlornly back to the dugout. He expected the coach to yell at him but instead he was ringing his hands looking worried, and yelling at other people. 

          "What are we going to do!?" He shouted at the assistant coach. 

          "Er, Coach?" Joey said, nervously, "I just got evicted the game…" The coach merely looked at him hopelessly, turned back to his discussion. 

          "Isn't there anyone else who could do it?" The assistant coach asked.

          "They're all playing… Waitaminute! WHEELER!"

          "Yeah?" Joey asked.

          "WHEELER! WHEELER! WHEELER!"

          "Still here, Coach."

          "You got evicted, right?" He asked franticly, "As in you aren't playing anymore this game?" 

          "Yup." Joey said, totally miserable. "But, Coach! It totally wasn't fair! The ump. is biased! He really hates me and…" But the coach was totally ignoring his complaints.

          "_You_ could do it!"

          "Do what?" Joey asked. This certainly hadn't been what he had been expecting from the coach. 

          "Our mascot is sick. He just called in to tell us. We told the other school and the spectators that we would have the mascot running around during the 7th inning stretch."

          "Oh I see, so you want _me_ to be the mascot?" Joey asked, unbelieving. 

          "That's right. Because you can't play, will you do this for your team?" He asked in the air of Uncle Sam enlisting boys for the army. 

          "Sure." Joey said, at least he wouldn't be bored. "But I ain't too good at all those acrobatic tricks and all." 

          "That's okay. As long as there is someone in the suit who can wave at the kids and pretend to be Barney the Bulldog, we'll be fine!" The coach said, smiling.

          "Barney the WHAT!?" Joey yelled.

          "Bulldog. Our team is the "Domino Bulldogs". Didn't you know that?" 

          "No! Coach! I have things against dog suits. I'll never live this down. The guys won't let me! Please, Coach!" Joey protested.

          "You promised, Joey! C'mon! Do it for the team! Be a man!" The coach patted him on the shoulder so hard that Joey nearly fell over. 

          "Okay. Okay, I'll do it. But you owe me big!" 

          "Fine. Fine. As long as you do it!" The coach said, and then sat down on the dugout bench laughing. The assistant coach ran up looking panicked.

          "Coach! Freedman just called! He has the mascot outfit at his house! It isn't here!" He cried out. 

          "Hooray!" Shouted Joey, "I mean… oh shucks!" The coach glared at him, and then put his hands over his face in despair. 

          "Is there no where we can get a dog suit on this short notice?!" He cried out to the world at large. A small cube hit Joey on the side of the head. 

          "Ow! What the…?" 

          "May I be of service?" Duke Devlin asked. 

          "Who are you?" The coach asked. Duke was never that into athletics so the coach had never met him.      

          "I heard you were in need of a mascot suit. I happen to have one. And I know for a fact that it is the right size." He grinned at Joey.

          "No! NOT COOL!" Joey shouted. The coach beamed up at Duke Devlin as if he were an angel. 

          "Thank you so much!" 

          "Great! I'll go get it!" He came back ten minutes later carrying the all too familiar dog suit. Joey covered his eyes at the sight of it. 

          "Put it on." The coach told him. 

          "B-but! Coach! It's not a bulldog!"

          "That won't matter to the little kids! Get out there!" Joey pulled the suit on and kept the top low, hoping no one would notice that it was him. Then he ran outside to applause. 

          "Hey, everybody!" He called to the croud. About twenty little children screamed. 

          "Hey! You aren't Barney the Bulldog!" 

          "Um… That's right, kids! I am Barney's cousin Bernie the Beagle!" Joey ad-libbed. The kids began chanting 'We want Barney!' Joey clenched his knuckles. Time for some distraction mechanisms. 

          "Hey, Kids! Look at Bernie do a somersault!" He proceeded to do a lopsided one, which made them cry harder.

          "WAAAH! BARNEY COULD DO FLIPS!"

          "YEAH! BARNEY WASN'T LAME!" 

          "WE WANT BARNEY!" Joey had no idea what to do. Who knew any sort of gymnastics? He ran over to the stands, and grabbed Teá who was eating a hotdog. 

          "C'mon! It's your chance to be a cheerleader!" Teá ran out onto the field with him. She began doing strange pirouettes all around the field, beaming at the kids. They began screaming at her too.

          "Hey go away, Bernie's ugly girlfriend!" 

          "She's NOT my girlfriend!" Joey yelled at them. "She's not even in my species!"

          "Go back to the dog house, mutt!" An older boy called. Joey was ready to cry in exasperation. 

          "Need a hand, Joseph?" A familiar, silky voice asked. 


End file.
